From pitch to checkout: Delivering winning fan experiences

Speakers: Tony Jackson – Celtic FC, Darren Lawson – Tottenham FC, Alistair MacNeil – Digital Boutique, Gary Landa – Digital Boutique

This presentation, delivered at The eCommerce Expo 2022, looked at digital transformation through football clubs with Adobe commerce, demonstrating how understanding the sports fans is at the core.

Within the football world there is a challenge to create a single unified voice when there are so many stakeholders within a club. The extreme emotions that pass through people during the season adds a novel complexity to existing marketing and e-commerce challenges.

There are infrastructure and software challenges with the extreme level of engagement during peak times that are hinged on game results.

So, how do they deliver first-class fan experiences?

Monetising loyalty and retention from fan emotion

Let’s take a look at the best ways to monetise fan engagement:

• Sell shirts on match day to loyal fans as the emotion generated from the game will generate extreme traffic spikes for new shirts
• Offer discount to people who have made purchases the previous season
• Target the gift givers as well as the loyal fans - shirts make ideal Christmas and birthday presents. 
• Look at purchasing history to suggest the right product for each browser; if they already have one shirt, they probably don’t want another. One size does not fit all. Try advertising training kit, away kit, or other gifts
• Flash sales are incredibly popular but maximise the timing (during/after the match or in the excitement building up to the match)‍

Think about the time‍

Monetise your opportunities by understanding the surge and pre-empting it. Largest selling times will be between Saturday morning and Monday morning so ensure you have software and infrastructure that can support this.‍

Turn engagement into purchases‍

How do you make the jump from a curious fan into a loyal customer? 

Engage with their interest; you already know that they are interested in the team so tell them more. For example; exclusive interview content, reports on team activity or progress, quotes from the manager.

Interweave this content with buying opportunities; link to products wherever necessary and be sure to advertise products alongside. Keep it visually cohesive and slick.

How to integrate fans?

User generated content (UGC) generates the most volume around the football club. Launching a new and engaging review platform where fans buy the latest kit and share their best knee slides with the kit on. This appeals to fans who want to emulate their idols and reaches their respective audiences on social media, reaching other potential customers.

You can make these challenges or trends themed, such as getting your dads involved for Father’s Day.

The rest of the journey‍

Look at the purchases to pre-empt what your customers could want in the future. For example, if they are buying a baby kit then you know that they have a child. Show them toddler range to keep them engaged on the purchasing journey.

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This blog is part of a series, based on our Co-founder Nathan’s visit to The eCommerce Expo 2022.